HSC18 - Round 1 POLL - JAN 2021 - JOIN IN EVERYONE!

[+therealbountybob]

Welcome to the first poll of Season 18 - yes it's 2021 and we're still going strong

 

We'll revert back to 5 game polls with a single vote this time, please all vote and play when the round starts sometime next week when we have a winner and enough players showing some interest!! Runner up game(s) will go into the next poll.

 

Like to start the season with a classic so I've picked games that everyone can play see comments below before voting.

 

Any questions post or message, we are all friendly here

 

Pole Position 

Pondering on playing the Patent V6 version for a change (or the Marius version better PAL timings but still easier). If you only have the original version then we can factor that in the tables.

http://www.atarimania.com/game-atari-400-800-xl-xe-patent-pole-position-version-06_14263.html

http://a8.fandal.cz/detail.php?files_id=5161

 

 

Nibbler

plenty of lives and great fun zap around the maze and eat everything apart from yourself! Starts of nice and easy.

http://www.atarimania.com/game-atari-400-800-xl-xe-nibbler_3694.html#

Fandal's ATR version is fixed and doesn't have the lock upproblem, though I suspect it might still have the eat yourself lockup one, but you can avoid that usually. Long time no play. Needs a good joystick.

http://a8.fandal.cz/detail.php?files_id=2496

 

Drop Zone

Better than defender? I'll leave you to decided, classic Horizontal rescue and shooter with some nice touces. Don't be surprised if top players will get to a point where they retire - we might make it 1milion for a joint win or something. This fast paced game is the most difficult in the poll for a casual player. Also needs a good Joystick and space is smart bombs and other key is cloak. [] Thanks orpheus, below - atariage NTSC patched XEXs

 

http://www.atarimania.com/game-atari-400-800-xl-xe-dropzone_s1747.html

http://a8.fandal.cz/detail.php?files_id=1734

 

Pac-man

Datasoft/with intermissions, unless you only have original Atari version.

What can I say, it's Pac-man !

http://www.atarimania.com/game-atari-400-800-xl-xe-pac-man_5987.html

 

Juno First

And finally Juno First, a nice middle ranked game, could be better but very playable shooter. You can scroll the screen vertically.

http://www.atarimania.com/game-atari-400-800-xl-xe-juno-first_2720.html

http://a8.fandal.cz/detail.php?files_id=2100

Edited January 8, 2021 by therealbountybob

[+orpheuswaking]

Dropzone should probably be played on PAL or the fixed NTSC version. 

[+therealbountybob]

2 hours ago, orpheuswaking said:

Dropzone should probably be played on PAL or the fixed NTSC version. 

Thanks S. yes link added above. It started HSC9 so there is a disk with all versions on it there if it wins!

[Cebus Capucinis]

Juno First "could be better"? Surely you jest sir!

[SectorWars]

A couple of observations about Dropzone.  I think the title sequence/attract mode is really impressive.  I remember trying to work out how he did the part with the Dropzone title gradually separating and dropping to the bottom of the screen one scan line at a time and then joining at the bottom.  It is so slick especially for its day.  The programmer (Archer MacLean) obviously loved Defender and even tried to capture some of the magic of the Eugene Jarvis arcade game and did a brilliant job.

 

Another interested note is Jon Williams did the conversion from the Atari to Commodore 64.  I don't know if that version had the title sequence but maybe not as I don't think the Commodore had the same kind of powerful display list interupts/scrolling of the Ataris (might have done but not sure).

[+therealbountybob]

10 hours ago, Cebus Capucinis said:

Juno First "could be better"? Surely you jest sir!

Archaic repartee is encouraged here in the HSC as are terrible puns as the regulars will know, hmm why do so many people leave

 

Hi Cebus yea, Juno is pretty good and I might just vote for her!

[Marius]

Dear all! 

My contribution with the HSC is going up and down. This has most of the time simply to do with one thing: time.

 

I am still trying to finish my study (Master education in Arts) and it is a difficult and hard process. I hope I will be finished this year in May or June... but you'll never know how things go. So I'll try to contribute with scores in the HSC but I can make no promises at all.  I hope that's ok!

 

Have fun with Atari 8bit!

Greetz

Marius

[carlsson]

Wow! On Friday it looked like Nibbler would win by a landslide, but the others have catched up during the weekend. I may have misplaced some timestamp but the progress appears to have looked something like this.

 

[graywest]

18 hours ago, carlsson said:

Wow! On Friday it looked like Nibbler would win by a landslide, but the others have catched up during the weekend. I may have misplaced some timestamp but the progress appears to have looked something like this.

 

I have to say, this is a very nice graph...

[carlsson]

Thanks. I should add 0.1, 0.2 etc to each game to make sure all lines are plotted even when they're on the same score. In the mean time, we're up to a three way tie. Fortunately trbb hasn't voted yet so his vote might act like a tiebreaker.

[McKong]

53 minutes ago, graywest said:

I have to say, this is a very nice graph...

Someone got some crayons for Christmas ?

[+therealbountybob]

I daren't do any election jokes  but I'm voting now

 

Just watching my emails to see how many have read them, the new season is imminent

[devwebcl]

Just in case if anybody hasn't seen it yet:

 

Man vs Snake: The Long and Twisted Tale of Nibbler (2015)

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2933794/

 

[carlsson]

^^ Oh, I was afraid it was a sequel to Human Centipede.

[Gunstar]

Sorry, I already forgot about coming over and voting...until now. I voted for Pole Position, but I hope it's fine to play the version with @TIX 's new graphics, as I can't go back to the old one now...I don't see why it should be an issue, but just checking. If only there was a version of Pole Position X with it's multiple tracks and Tix's new graphics.?

[McKong]

Seems like it's a pretty even split between the five games. Why don't we have a season opener that lasts a month and we play all the games!

Edited January 14, 2021 by McKong

[carlsson]

Or alternatively determine the main games for the first two rounds from the first poll, so there is one game at a time. A bit like how IOC did when the two only candidates for the next Summer Olympic Games were Paris and Los Angeles, so they let those settle it between eachother and allocate both 2024 and 2028 games in one go.

[+therealbountybob]

OK Nibbler takes the victory here with 9 votes and the first round is now open: HSC18 Round 1

 

I'll leave the poll open for a few days for anyone who missed it, the runner up game/s will go into the round 2 poll, the others almost certainly will be polled again later in the season